School-Age Vaccination Rates Decline in Pa., Nation
September 12, 2025
Routine vaccination rates for kindergarteners are declining in Pennsylvania and across the nation, according to a recent issue brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Notably, 39 states had measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rates below the target rate of 95 percent for the 2024–2025 school year. That’s compared to 28 states that were below this threshold for 2019–2020.
“The past few years have seen more skepticism among the public about the safety and effectiveness of measles vaccines, a decline in trust of health authorities in general, and increasingly partisan views on vaccine requirements,” the brief notes.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Overall trend: Just over 92 percent of kindergarteners had been vaccinated against MMR, polio and DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis) for the 2024-2025 school year.
- That’s down from the pre-pandemic rate of about 95 percent.
- Why it matters: Vaccination target rates of 95 percent help prevent community transmission. Falling below that threshold puts more people at risk for highly infectious diseases like measles.
- In Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania’s MMR vaccination rate fell to 92.4 percent for the 2024–2025 school year, a 4.2 percentage point decline from pre-pandemic levels.
- Exemptions on the rise: About 6 percent of Pennsylvania kindergartners claimed a vaccine exemption, up 3 percentage points from pre-pandemic levels. This mirrors nationwide trends.
- Quotable: “These trends began during the COVID-19 pandemic and have continued over time,” the brief notes. “Recent trends appear to be related to increasing vaccine hesitancy, fueled in part by vaccine misinformation.”
Read the issue brief online.